In recent years, the public and especially industrial regulations have become more concerned that the design of transportable containers for storage and use of gasoline be designed to afford users and those proximate to those users maximum protection for safe handling of flammable liquids such as gasoline. If not so designed, unintentional discharge of the contents could increase, potentially resulting in a serious fire or explosion endangering nearby persons and property.
In response to this concern, industry associations have issued a number of regulations requiring that small containers directed to storage, transport and use of gasoline be designed with certain safety features depending on the intended use of the container. Thus, the standards set by the National Fire Protection Association and the American National Standards Institute requires an automatic spring closing cap and spout cover for closure of the fill spout of gasoline containers used in the workplace. The automatic spring closing cap and spout cover are intended to relieve the pressure build up in the container when a predetermined pressure is reached within the container that could result in explosion in the vicinity of the workplace. However, another regulation issued by the Department of Transportation (DOT) of the U.S. government equally concerned with safety in the transportation of gasoline on public highways has other pressure relief and drop test criteria for containers when filled with gasoline.
An additional requirement of the same regulation further requires that the valves and fittings of such small containers be protected from accidental damage when dropped, placed in compression when stacked, or subject to vibration up to predetermined test levels prescribed by the regulation.
The penalties for violation of these regulations is severe so as to impress upon users and manufacturers an incentive to comply and create designs which meet the requirements.